dirt don't hurt

It happens every time our family travels anywhere outside of northeast Ohio; the grass is naturally greener.  We have  fanaticized about living in the south, where the sweet tea flows as smooth as the chatter from a belle sitting through the afternoon sun on a front porch rocker.  We have dreamed of living in the mountains, where only the tougher than nails survive.  We have even dreamed of living at the edge of the ocean, where beach bums, millionaires, and fishermen redefine harmony and all sing Jimmy Buffet songs. But at the end of the day, we are still born and raised northeast Ohioans.  And the truth is that maybe living in northeast Ohio isn’t so bad.  I dare even think that, if we put the time into it, it could be as romantic as the place where the southern mountains meet the ocean. Northeast Ohio has great things and great people that make our part of the world something absolutely wonderful.  We get to experience all four seasons, which...

My children sat around the table and talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up.  For kids, this is almost as exciting as deciding what the theme for next year’s birthday part will be, but usually doesn’t change as much.  I love when kids daydream about their adult future, though, because they have no idea that it involves things like salaries and taxes and leaf blowers and nose hair trimmers and heating pads and the right to fall asleep on the couch 30 seconds after the dinner dishes have been put away. Instead, they see the world at their fingertips, full of possibility, hope, and dreams. I once had the pleasure to work with a bunch of second graders and I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up.  At first I heard the typical answers. Policeman.  Teacher.  Video Game Arcade Owner.  Professional Athlete.  It was a great combination of service related careers and the dreams of children, which was exactly my point in askin...

I’m not going to lie.  I get really crabby in the winter.  My family quietly urges me to seek sunlight, drink joyous teas, meditate, sing, eat, dance, and everything else possible so I don’t morph into the grouchiest grouch who ever got out of bed.  On the wrong side.  Everyday.   Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD as it is so appropriately called, is the real deal.  And I’m not self-diagnosing, but the winter blues is not something that we made up because we were crabby and couldn’t go outside and play.  It’s caused by a decrease in sunlight, drop in chemical levels in the body, and, although not technically documented, also by being trapped in your house with your children asking you to play Candyland and feed them snacks for hours on end until they request to watch TV and then use every single sheet and blanket you have to build a fort which covers two-thirds of your living space and you have to just about crawl through a window to get to your ...

Of all of the misused and overused words in the world, one of the biggest culprits is the word that is on everyone’s mind this time of the year.  Love. Think of how many times a day we use it, and what we use it for.  I know how many times I day I tell my children or my husband that I love them, but I also say things like, “I love Chinese food!” and “I love it when I do a few loads of laundry and don’t have any mismatched socks!”  I talk to my mom nearly every day on the phone and end it with “love you.”  I end every email with my husband “love, Karrie.”  I sometimes tell my children that I love them so much, I could squeeze them until their heads pop off. We love songs and television shows.  We love movie stars and seasons of the year, restaurants, cars, and fashion.   Toby Keith sang about how much he loves a bar, and Ray Charles sang that he can’t stop loving you, and the Beatles are well known for preaching that, above all else, all you need ...

This morning I reached into my oversized purse and fished through in search of my keys, which ended up being in my coat pocket, but that’s beside the point.  The point is that I found the following items floating around down there: wallet, checkbook, pack of tissues, deck of playing cards, and cough drops.  And if I was a betting woman, I would guess that the contents of my nearly 90-year-old grandmother’s purse would be exactly the same thing. I laughed, and then felt like I should maybe qualify for the senior citizen discount because the wisdom of true necessity is not usually reached by someone as young as I. This whole scenario played out the morning after my children and I went out for dinner at 4:00.  And while I know most of you are thinking early-bird special, I will tell you that as we sat in that nearly empty restaurant, we all felt our youth and it was not based on the time or the few other clientele at the nearby tables.  It was based on our absol...

When it comes to keeping my family healthy, I will do just about anything.  All I need to do is ask my children how many kids were absent in their classes, and my palms start to sweat and I consider putting hand sanitizer up my nose, although I do not ever in a million years actually do it wouldn’t recommended it.  (Dangerous, actually.)  But the thought crosses my mind because in my family, if someone goes down, we all go down.  Life as we know it ceases, and every parent out there reading this is nodding their heads simultaneously because they know exactly what I’m talking about. Therefore, I proudly admit that I subscribe to any crazy home remedy, old wives tale, or even email forward that proclaims that it can keep us from getting sick. Literally, if someone told me that holding a barbeque pork rind between my toes on my left foot while drinking a glass of water with dog food in it, I would do it.  I get that crazy during cold and flu season, and ev...

Ask most people if they are right or left handed and they’ll answer in a heartbeat.  Ask about their eye dominance, and marksmen will respond quickly.  Ask about their feet and most will stare blankly at you.  Continue reading this potentially important information, and you’ll never walk into a public restroom the same way again. I have been lucky enough to take a few mini courses in tracking.  I can identify a cat from a dog from a coyote and on a good day can tell you if the deer that walked through the mud was a male or female.  Animal tracking gives you a strong connection to the natural world.  You begin to walk with the animal, feel its thirst and quest for water, its attempt to eat or consequence of being eaten.  A good tracker will look at tracks and be able to piece together an entire story about that animal, because animals follow patterns and instincts. We have to remember, though, that when it comes down to it, we are animals, too....